NITA-U moves to replace paper-based land verification with digital checks
Julian Rweju, the Director of e-Government Services at NITA-U, disclosed this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, during an endorsement interview ahead of the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) Expo and Symposium scheduled for September 24 to 26, 2026, at Kololo Independence Grounds.
The Director of e-Government Services at NITA-U, Julian Rweju, explaining how government is turning Uganda's national ID into a practical key for service delivery during a one -on-one interview at NITA-U Head Office in Lugogo, Kampala. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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The National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) is developing a secure digital signature and document authentication system anchored on the National ID to curb rampant fraud in land transactions, its director for e-Government Services has revealed.
The system, built on the UGPass platform, will enable Ugandans to sign land sale agreements, transfer forms and consent letters digitally in a legally recognised manner and link them directly to their National Identification Number (NIN), making it nearly impossible for fraudsters to forge signatures or impersonate landowners.
Julian Rweju, the Director of e-Government Services at NITA-U, disclosed this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, during an endorsement interview ahead of the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) Expo and Symposium scheduled for September 24 to 26, 2026, at Kololo Independence Grounds.
“NITA-U is the government agency responsible for coordinating and driving IT development across the public sector. If a government service is being delivered digitally, we’ve almost certainly been involved in building or supporting the systems behind it,” Rweju said.
“Our job is to put the ICT infrastructure like NBI, Wi-Fi and platforms in place so ministries, agencies and local governments are automated and can actually serve people online instead of relying on paper. Identity is central to that work, because nearly every digital service starts with confirming who you are.”
Land fraud remains one of Uganda’s biggest sources of conflict. Cases involving forged signatures on transfer forms, sale agreements signed by impersonators and multiple titling of the same land have clogged courts and left thousands of families homeless.
Police and the Ministry of Lands say most of the fraud thrives because verification still depends on photocopied National IDs and wet-ink signatures that can easily be faked. Rweju said the new approach, using UGHub and UGPass, will close that gap.
How it will work
“Think of UGHub as the shared connection that allows government systems to talk to each other securely. Once an agency is connected, it can request and receive verified information, such as a National Identification Number check, in real time,” she said.
“You give your National Identification Number at the service point. The office’s system sends a request through UGHub. UGHub checks with NIRA in the background, confirms the details are genuine and match the record, then sends the response back usually within a few seconds,” she explained.
The technical lead UGPass NITA-U, James Lutalo, explaining how the government uses shared connection that allows government systems to talk to each other securely without compromising individual privacy on Wednesday at NITA-U head offices in Lugogo, Kampala. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
For land, this means when someone presents themselves as the owner of land in Wakiso or Mukono, the lands office will not just look at a photocopied ID. Through UGHub, it will instantly verify with NIRA that the NIN belongs to the registered owner.
“From the person’s point of view, they simply provide a number and get served. The office is not relying on a printed card alone; it is confirming the information against the official register. This offers some level of security and trust that the right citizen is being served,” Rweju emphasised.
“UGPass is about proving it is really you when you are online, and enabling you to sign documents digitally in a way that is legally recognised. It allows secure login to government e-services and supports electronic signatures so people no longer have to print, sign by hand, scan and send documents back,” she elaborated.
“Passwords can be shared, guessed, forgotten or reused. UGPass links the authentication more tightly to a person’s verified identity, creating a stronger connection between the person online and the registered Ugandan on the National ID register now that the system has strengthened with NIRA tightening its grip on mandatory switch from Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) to the NIN of every citizen,” she observed.
In the land sector, Rweju said this will be integrated with the Ministry of Lands’ National Land Information System. A seller will log in with UGPass, verify with NIN and append a digital signature that is cryptographically bound to his identity.
According to the technical lead for UGPass at NITA-U, James Lutalo, the system will also support translation and simplification of land documents, so an ordinary farmer can understand what they are signing in a language they understand before appending a signature.
“This is expected to end cases where illiterate owners are tricked into signing English documents they do not understand, or where brokers forge signatures after obtaining a photocopy of an ID,” he observed.
Addressing privacy fears, Lutalo acknowledged public unease about systems sharing data but said access is strictly controlled.
“It is a reasonable concern, and people should feel free to raise it. Access is not open. An agency cannot simply browse anyone’s data. Every request that goes through UGHub is controlled, logged and limited to the specific information needed for that particular service. Everything operates under the Data Protection and Privacy Act,” he said.
He said the theme for this year’s NIRA Expo, “My Identity. My Shadow. Never Apart” sums up the vision. “That your National ID is more than a card in a pocket. A trusted, properly verified identity is a practical key.”
“It opens access to services, opportunities, credit and participation in the digital economy. Identity should move with you like a shadow, quietly making things possible, instead of being something you have to struggle to prove again and again.”
NITA-U will showcase the UGHub and UGPass integration, including the land fraud use case, at the NIRA Expo at Kololo from September 24 to 26.
The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, welcomed the innovation, noting that over 70% of land cases in courts are related to forgery and impersonation, a problem a NIN-anchored digital signature system could drastically reduce.